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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401696">Ash the Faller</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeWhoIsMany/pseuds/HeWhoIsMany'>HeWhoIsMany</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gender or Sex Swap, Transformation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:09:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,622</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401696</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeWhoIsMany/pseuds/HeWhoIsMany</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ash is ready to leave Alola behind, falling through an Ultra Wormhole leads him to a place both familiar and quite foreign at the same time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ash the Faller</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After all his time in the tropical region, Ash Ketchum had mixed feelings about leaving Alola. He’d made so many friends there, had so much fun, but it was time to move on to another step in his long Pokemon journey. For now, he and Pikachu were taking a dirigible across the sea, back to Kanto. It had been a while since he’d gone home, and there were friends there he’d like to see again, as well as his mother.</p><p>Looking over the edge of a railing, out over the bright blue sea, Ash could only barely make out the occasional Pokemon on the water’s surface, Gyrados and Tentacruel surfacing for moments before sinking back into the depths. It was a beautiful perspective, and made him think about the place he was leaving behind him.</p><p>Alola had been something special, as had the people he’d gotten to meet there. It was hard to say goodbye, but he’d heard about another region, one even farther away from home, someplace called Galar. It was close to Kalos, and Pokemon battling was bigger there than anywhere else Ash had ever heard of. The world was so vast, and even after the places he’d already gone, there was so much left for Ash to see.</p><p>“Prepare for trouble!”</p><p>“Make it double!”</p><p>The voices came from behind Ash, and with a sigh he turned around to see what he was expecting: Team Rocket, all assembled in hot air balloon of their own, clearly ready to try and take Pikachu again. “Guys, do you think you could wait until we get home? I’m kind of tired right now,” Ash asked them, earnestly.</p><p>James seemed to consider the idea. “He has a point, Jessie. We could use a little R&amp;R ourselves. Working too hard would only-”</p><p>Before he could even finish the sentence, Jessie hit a button on their balloon, causing a cannon to appear on one side. “Today is the day we finally take your Pikachu, twerp!” Then, the weapon fired it’s blast. It wasn’t enough to destroy the ship that Ash was on, but it was enough to make the entire thing shake.</p><p>The problem there was that Ash and Pikachu, who had been resting on his shoulder, were so close to the railing that when he stumbled, Ash found himself falling over its edge, plummeting to the ocean below him. “Jessie, what did you do! What if he’s hurt?” Ash barely managed to hear the complaint from James before he realized there was something under him besides ocean.</p><p>To many, the strange tear in the open air would be a mystifying sight, but Ash knew exactly what it was: an Ultra Wormhole! Before he could even try getting out of its way, he and Pikachu fell through it, only to continue falling, still above an ocean. Ash only had moments to be confused before he hit the water, and lost consciousness.</p><p>How long Ash was out, he didn’t know. All he did know was that, when he did come back to the world, it was in a place that felt familiar yet strange at the same time. He was on a spare cot, in a small spartan room, and not only was Pikachu not with him, all of his personal belongings were gone. His clothes, his PokeDex, he PokeBalls, all of it was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>That said, Ash was not naked. He was dressed in a white outfit he’d seen over Alola more than a few times: namely that of a member of the Aether Foundation. In fact, the more he looked at the steel walls, ceiling, floor, and door, this place was clearly the inside of that very facility where Lillie’s mom worked.</p><p>But at the same time, some things were wrong. Ash had seen the uniform of the Aether Foundation enough to know this one wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t the same shade of white, and various other small, inconsequential details didn’t match the look he could still see in his head. Getting up off the bed, he was beginning to put together what might have happened, when the door opened.</p><p>A young woman with dark skin and a warm smile entered the room, wearing the same strangely wrong Aether Foundation uniform that Ash had on. “Ah, you’re awake. Please, follow me.” Then the woman stood there, clearly waiting for Ash to do as she’d asked. He considered refusing to follow, before realizing that if he wanted answers, it would probably be best to do as she wanted.</p><p>Together they left the room, and that strange mix of the familiar and the foreign was everywhere they walked. This was clearly the Aether Foundation...except it also wasn’t. Ash had been there, several times, and so many details just looked wrong. “Where are we going?” Ash asked her, as they turned to head down a corridor that ended in an elevator.</p><p>They got inside it, and the woman used a keycard to activate the controls, before pressing the button for the top floor. “Why, you’re meeting the President.” Gears continued to turn in Ash’s head at that. The President? Of the Aether Foundation? He already knew her, but maybe...maybe he didn’t. At least not the one he was about to see.</p><p>When they reached the desired floor, the doors opened but the woman didn’t exit, only gesturing for Ash to head out into the office. Feeling tense, Ash did just that, walking out into an office that looked nothing at all like the one he knew.</p><p>The Lusamine that Ash knew kept her office utterly beautiful, if a bit bare, clean to a fault at all times. This office was more decorated, more garish, almost like a parody of beauty. What really put it off were the scientific looking tubes on each side of the room, filled with some liquid. Some of them were empty, but others weren’t. Pokemon were inside, but Ash was too far away and the liquid too cloudy for him to clearly make out the species of any of the Pokemon trapped inside them.</p><p>Standing across the room, far behind the desk, staring out large windows that looked out onto the vast ocean, was Lusamine, President of the Aether Foundation. “Take a seat,” she said, without turning to look at Ash, her extremely long blonde hair forming almost a shield to protect him from seeing her face. Uncomfortable, he crossed the room and sat in one of the two chairs available. Namely, the one in front of her desk, rather than behind it. She must have heard him sit down, because she then asked, “Tell me...is your name ‘Ash Ketchum’?”</p><p>Unsure what to do with what he had begun to suspect, Ash replied, “Yes, it is.” From the way she said his name, it sounded as though she’d never heard it before. Another clue that pointed towards he’d begun to think was the case.</p><p>“Do you know what Ultra Wormholes are, Mr. Ketchum?” There was something very different about this Lusamine’s voice, Ash realized. There was no warmth to it. No joy. No love. It was cold, practical, dead inside...yet somehow just as beautiful, only in a different way. He made a sound of confirmation, letting her know he was aware of the phenomena. “Good. I’m sure you’re aware of how you came here, then. Do you know what a Faller is?”</p><p>There was a word that Ash did know, but it had been a while since he’d heard it. Scratching his head, he said, “Isn’t it...someone who comes out of an Ultra Wormhole? They usually have amnesia though, don’t they?” Something that Ash didn’t have, yet he would have to be a Faller, if he’d come here via an Ultra Wormhole.</p><p>It was clear to him now that he’d been right. Ash was in a different universe, one parallel to the world he knew. That’s why the uniform was different, and why Lusamine was too. This wasn’t the woman he knew. “Quite right. In fact, you’re the first Faller observed to retain their memories of the world they left behind. But that’s not the only special thing about you.” Then, still looking out the window, Lusamine pointed to a nearby cylindrical tank, one that was empty. “We were keeping you in there, at first. So many tests to do.” Hearing her say that made a shiver run down Ash’s spine.</p><p>Now unable to look anywhere except the pod where he had apparently been kept while unconscious, Ash asked the only thing he could think of. “Why? Why would you keep me in there?” Even as he asked the question, Ash knew he was terrified of the possible answer.</p><p>“There is no Ash Ketchum in our world.” That statement stunned Ash, but Lusamine kept talking, paying no heed to his gasp of surprise. “Every other Faller already has a counterpart in our world. We think that’s why they lose their memories, because there can only be one of each person. But you have the opposite problem. You’re an even bigger anomaly, the sole individual when there should be none. It was hard to keep your physical form from unraveling into loose particles.” Ash wasn’t sure what was worse: the content of her words, or the matter-of-fact way she said them.</p><p>Not being the most science-minded individual, at first all Ash could say to that was “What?!” Running her words through his head a few more times, ultimately all he could think to add was to ask her, “What does that mean?” After all, from what he could understand, it sounded very bad.</p><p>Letting out an annoyed scoff, Lusamine explained, “It means that, without anything of this world to tie itself to, your body was going to fall apart. Luckily for you, I saw an opportunity to experiment.” For the first time, something like happiness entered her voice, though considering the situation it was hard for Ash to be happy about it. “We just needed to bond you with another person, one you could depend on to continue living in our dimension. Of course, a side effect would be slowly becoming a duplicate of that individual.”</p><p>Having had his body and mind messed with more than once in the past, Ash was not pleased to hear it would be happening again. “Seriously?! Who...who did you bond me to? Who am I going to become?” On his last words, Ash realized his voice sounded higher than it should have, and started to fear the answer to his question.</p><p>Finally turning to look at Ash, her eyes cold, Lusamine was smiling as she told him, “Why, the only person who deserves to have a second version of themselves. Me, of course.” Then, after giving a haunting laugh, Lusamine said, “Tell me, have you noticed the changes to your body at all, or are you that much of a simpleton?”</p><p>Hearing that made Ash angry, but when he tried to stand up he realized his body was numb. Looking down was a difficult effort, but one that produced results. The body in the Aether Foundation uniform he was still wearing was not his own. No, this body was older, more mature, and very very feminine. The shirt was struggling to contain a considering bust, and the sides of Ash’s vision was framed by the long locks of blonde hair he knew would come with Lusamine’s head. It was only now that he realized that she must have predicted the changes would have happened when they did, she’d called him there so she could get a glimpse of the before to compare to the after. Now, physically at least, the only difference Ash and Lusamine from an outside perspective was the clothes they were wearing. “What...are you going to do to me now?”</p><p>Expression chilly once again, Lusamine told him, “Well, you may look the part, but you need a change in attitude.” Then she walked up to her desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a strange looking device. It was handheld, with one end having a small radar dish on the tip, and a trigger set into the handle. “Did you know that the Aether Foundation has been working on replicating the effects of Pokemon moves using technology? It’s had limited success so far, but Hypnosis has shown marvelous results.” Then she came closer, taking advantage of the fact that whatever effects had changed Ash had also effectively paralyzed him.</p><p>“Please, don’t!” Ash tried to plead, but he may as well not have said anything. This was not the strange but well-meaning mother of his friend Lillie. This was, in fact, a woman with no morals whatsoever, only interested in herself and the concept of beauty...and perhaps what else might lie beyond the Ultra Wormholes. Thanks to the actual effects of the hypnosis device, Ash would never know exactly what Lusamine said to him after activating it.</p><p>What she did know was that, when it finally ended, she could move again, and she immediately stood up. But looking at Lusamine, the anger Ash had felt before...was gone. So were most of his emotions, for that matter. Pride remained, satisfaction as well, and a few darker things that had never been harbored in his heart before. “What...did you do to me?” Ash asked her, trying to at least pretend like she was upset by what had been one to her.</p><p>To that question, Lusamine gave an arctic smile. “No need to pretend, dear sister. I know your heart isn’t in it. If you want to know what I did, you can figure that out for yourself quite easily.” Realizing she couldn’t dispute what Lusamine was saying, Ash racked her brain, trying to take stock of what was different.</p><p>Not only were her emotions completely different, but her new body felt normal to her now, as though she’d had it her entire life. She was also internally referring to herself as a woman, her gender having changed. That was only the tip of the iceberg. While Ash kept all her memories of her old life, but they felt more distant now. More important was the scientific knowledge filling her head near to bursting...and the plans of Lusamine’s that she now knew. Including what she wanted to do to Cosmog, to try and get into Ultra Space herself. The strangest thing was...just thinking about those plans made Ash want to smile. So she did. “My, my, my. It seems we have a lot to look forward to.”</p><p>The original Lusamine clearly agreed. “I’m glad you see things my way, sister. Once we get the legendary Pokemon back from my foolish daughter, we can finally make our plans a reality.” Ash had no objections to her referring to them as ‘our plans’. After all, Ash felt just as much ownership of them now as Lusamine did.</p><p>“Where’s Pikachu?” Ash asked, more curious than anything. “The Pokemon did fall through the Ultra Wormhole with me.”</p><p>Reaching out with a beautiful hand, Lusamine pointed to another one of the tubes, the one next to the one Ash had been in before her transformation. “In there. It has the same problem you do, but I’ve yet to choose a Pokemon to bond it to yet. I thought I’d leave that decision up to you, my sister.” Indeed, walking closer to the tank allowed Ash to confirm that Pikachu was inside, though only the faintest remains of sentimental attachment remained.</p><p>“I think...we should wait. This Pikachu is quite powerful, after all, and I would be fascinated to see what it would be like...as an Ultra Beast.”</p>
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